A new company opening in Levelland means expanded rail service

Wednesday

A new company is bringing new jobs and increased rail traffic to the community of Levelland.

The opening of the North Star Gas facility, which is already in operation, will increase rail traffic into the community from three days a week to five days a week.

Shawn Kirkpatrick, the economic development director for Levelland, called the new business extremely important for Levelland, though it is located just outside the city limits.

The increased traffic on the line operated by West Texas and Lubbock Railway will help the community's local businesses and could attract new ones, Kirkpatrick said.

"It will help us with our business attraction and recruitment efforts," he said.

Because the new facility isn't located inside the city limits, the city of Levelland will not see any direct tax revenue from its operations.

"The real benefit for us is the job creation and the five-day-a-week rail service," Kirkpatrick said. "Anytime we can add jobs to the community it is an additional opportunity for our residents to work, and to work locally."

North Star expects the operation to have between 20 and 30 employees. For Kirkpatrick, this is part of a growth trend in the Levelland community.

"For us, it is a continuation of growth for us as a hub for the oil and natural gas industry in the northern Permian Basin," Kirkpatrick said.

Operations at the North Star location just west of Levelland are expected to run two shifts, five days a week, said Don Smith, North Star Gas president.

Pentane is being trucked to the plant from Sundown, transferred to train cars and shipped to Canada. Smith said four to five train cars per day are expected to be filled at the facility, which will receive 32 to 40 trucks. There will be no storage of chemicals on site, aside from train cars being filled for shipment.

Smith said the Levelland Economic Development Corporation welcomed the facility, assisted with site location and aided communication with the fire department and railroad.

"We've been very well received by the community," Smith said.

And the investment in Levelland is a long-term investment, Smith said. The county's available infrastructure is what attracted North Star to start operations in Levelland.

"Mostly it is the short line railroad's ability to accommodate a facility like this," Smith said. "West Texas and Lubbock Railroad stepped up to the plate and said, 'We can do it, no problem.' "

The increased rail service is something Rick Miller, vice president of logistics and field operations for Itero Energy, calls critical to his business.

"Going to five days a week service, we can more efficiently move cars in and out of Levelland," Miller said.

Itero recovers crude oil from waste products it receives from oil field companies. The location in Levelland is a point where materials are taken from trucks, put into rail cars and shipped to the company's plants in Oklahoma and Monahans.

"I'm excited," Miller said. "It is a tribute to what the economic development corporation in Levelland has done."

Miller also called it a big commitment for the railroad.

"The city has been very good at developing sites so there is infrastructure," Miller said. "The missing link was the rail service."

And it was a significant missing link. Miller said his company had been debating how to best service its customer needs, one consideration would have been relocation of their operations from the area.

Recent growth in Levelland has also prevented the potential abandonment of the rail line to the community, said Bruce Carswell, West Texas and Lubbock Railway vice president of Permian Basin logistics.

"It really does help stabilize the rail line," Carswell said. "With that level of traffic we can justify investment."

Carswell said to make the operation of a train profitable, there needed to be between 10 to 15 cars. Before the North Star operations and another relatively new business in Levelland, Titan Transloading, train service to Levelland was limited to once a week.

Carswell said one common equation to determine the sustainability of a rail line is the need for 100 cars per year, per mile of track. With the line running to Levelland being more than 20 miles long, rail service limited to once a week could have resulted in eventual abandonment.

"It wouldn't mean the end of the world," Carswell said. "But (the abandonment of a line) does limit the options of a community to develop business."

Carswell is happy about the Levelland's growth.

"We're glad we can help facilitate business growth in Levelland," Carswell said. "It's what we are here for."

To comment on this story:

christopher.hoff@lubbockonline.com • 766-8707

leesha.faulkner@lubbockonline.com • 766-8706

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